Luxury Properties Inspection

Buyers of luxury homes are generally cultivated buyers with more interest in getting an accurate report than saving a few dollars on a real estate transaction. There are specific trends which appear to be common among luxury properties. They go as follows:

Newly built luxury properties are often assumed to have been built with fewer defects than a newly built home by a production builder. In fact, what is true is the opposite. The reason for this is simple. In production homes, mistakes found in earlier properties are corrected as each new property is built. In this case, repetition is their greatest ally in building properties with fewer defects. Builders of custom homes do not have this advantage since they are usually being given a construction design that they have not seen before. It is common to believe that attention to detail must be extraordinary given the staggering costs associated with construction of a luxury home. Very often this is not the case. We have seen luxury homes that are very well constructed and others that should have the builder running to hide under a rock. To be fair, it is important to realize the immense complexity associated with building today’s custom luxury home. Potential for mistakes is incalculable. Any lapse in supervision will have an adverse affect on the project. Misunderstanding between design/construction personnel can cause calamity and luxury homes are not immune from under skilled tradesmen. See the potential?

We are always astonished at the belief that municipal inspections during construction provide identification of every defect and that “the system” protects us from mistakes made during construction. In reality, the municipal inspectors are only able to provide a cursory screening of certain code related defects. Limited is a good word to describe the benefit of municipal inspections. They are important but they are not enough. Independent inspections are crucial.

Deferred maintenance is something we often find in the resale of custom homes. When expensive systems are installed we somehow tend to think that maintenance is either unnecessary or rarely necessary. It is common to find heating & cooling system filters that have never been serviced or water heaters that are leaking because the homeowner rarely goes into the mechanical rooms. Buyers and sellers are often shocked to hear, from the home inspector, about the extensive deferred maintenance items in a resale luxury home. A home’s high value does not always mean that it is in good condition.